loading…
The Russian underwater expeditionary ship, the Admiral Vladimirsky, has been billed as a spy ship by the Scandinavian media. Photo/STV News
OSLO – Russia have a fleet spy ship suspected of operating in the waters of the North Sea as part of a program to sabotage underwater cables and wind farms in the region. The accusations were based on a joint investigation by the Scandinavian media.
The publications from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland used data analysis, intercepted radio communications and intelligence sources to show how some 50 ships have gathered intelligence over the past 10 years, using underwater surveillance equipment to map key sites for potential sabotage, reported Norwegian outlet NRK and Swedish SVT.
“Russian ships have sailed past military training areas, important oil and gas fields, small airports, deep sea wharves and strategically important centers for the Norwegian Armed Forces,” according to NRK as quoted by CNN, Thursday (20/4/2023) .
The investigation also said the Russian ships appeared suddenly after the NATO exercises. Norway and Denmark are founding members of NATO, while Finland joined earlier this month – displeased with Moscow – and Sweden is trying to follow suit.
One Russian ship at the center of the investigation, the Admiral Vladimirsky, was officially used for underwater research expeditions, but according to the report, it was a spy ship.
Scandinavian media tracked the ship’s movements and found that it had traveled for a month through Nordic waters with its transmitter turned off to keep it concealed, sailing close to wind farms, as well as through the Swedish Armed Forces’ naval training area, SVT reported.
When a TV crew from Danish media DR approached the ship in the sea between Sweden and Denmark, a masked man appeared on deck apparently wearing body armor and armed with an assault rifle, with the incident caught on camera.
The investigation also said that the Russian fishing vessel Taurus, which was shipping fish to Norway between 2015 and 2022, had turned up in an unusual place, heading straight for a military firing range and close to a military base where all naval traffic is prohibited.
“In one case, it appears that Taurus has stopped fishing and gone straight to the town of Alesund, bypassing a major NATO exercise in the Trondelag region,” NRK reported.
